


The President's Son

by nineofhearts, Rindle



Category: Glee
Genre: Audio Format: M4B, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming, M/M, Podfic, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 1.5-2 Hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 03:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7558357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nineofhearts/pseuds/nineofhearts, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rindle/pseuds/Rindle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kurt is in 8th grade, Burt is elected President of the United States. Eventually, he decides to get a tumblr (despite an explicit ban on all social media accounts), where he meets Blaine, who has no idea that he has just met Kurt Hummel, son of President Hummel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Junior Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Rindle for being an awesome beta / sounding board and creating a wonderful podfic version of this fic and the cover art!

  


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Kurt sat on Air Force One, his back to the wall as he perused tumblr on his laptop, keeping an eye on the doorway. Was he technically supposed to be taking a practice PSAT? Maybe. Was he technically not allowed to have any social media accounts for security reasons - a major downside of his dad becoming President? Sure. He figured he would be safe to log in on the plane, though. Usually, he only logged in from school. That way, the average person wouldn’t be able to trace his IP address to the White House. Granted, it was unlikely any of his three hundred followers were about to do this - but over the summer, with all the traveling he’d been doing alongside his dad, Kurt had started to take more risks with it. Safe risks. Someone tracking his IP would have to already suspect his tumblr was _The_ Kurt Hummel’s tumblr in order to put the pieces together.

He read through a few posts discussing the latest episode of _Project Runway_ before the page chimed with a new message. Kurt rushed to turn the volume off before opening it.

BowtiesandCoffee: Are you watching Project Runway this season?

Kurt grinned a little. He’d met Blaine last year, when he’d started his tumblr. He’d intended to blog a little about _Project Runway_ , get all the latest juice on it, and avoid being noticed. Instead, Blaine had struck up a conversation with him, following a post Kurt had been compelled to make. It wasn’t his fault that people wouldn’t accept that fashion had no gender.

Once Blaine had started talking to him, they kind of hadn’t stopped. Somehow though, Blaine was under the impression that he might not be watching _Project Runway_ this season.

BornThisWay: ??? Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be? Not only is it the reason we met, it's one of my favorite shows. As you know.

BowtiesandCoffee: Good. Because I have a lot to say about last night's episode...

* * *

As August wound slowly to a close, Kurt found himself at yet another political function with his dad (and Carole and Finn). This time, it was a dinner party his dad had insisted they all attend, following the Economic Summit they were at in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Kurt glanced at his watch impatiently and sighed. He’d missed the chance to watch the newest episode of _Project Runway_ live. Stupid obligations. He’d missed his show.

“What’s wrong, Bud?”

Kurt jumped, turning to see his dad next to him. “Nothing.”

Burt raised an eyebrow at him and waited.

“I missed _Project Runway_ ,” Kurt confessed, fiddling with his glass, eyes flicking around the room, sliding over the mass of well dressed middle aged men in suits.

“There are new episodes in August?” Burt asked, eyebrows raised.

“It’s on Lifetime, Dad.” Kurt rolled his eyes. “Not all shows happen during the school year.”

“Okay, well I still have to talk to some people, but if you want to head back to the condo, you can. I think I heard Finn say something about heading back soon. We have to get up early for that fishing trip.”

“I’m not going on that,” Kurt reminded him dully. No way was he going to be woken up at 5am so he could go sit in the sun for hours on end, catching fish. “Carole and I were going to explore Jackson Hole.”

Burt let out a little defeated sigh. “You know that’ll probably get crazy real quick, right?”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Yes, Dad.” Of course he knew it would probably get crazy. Ever since his dad had decided to upgrade from United States Senator to _President_ of the United States, things had been a little ‘crazy.’ It was obvious that he and Carole would likely have to cut their shopping trip short due to safety concerns. They’d decided it was worth it, though. They both wanted to check out the wares and poke around town. Even if it did mean an entourage of security and having to be on their Best Behavior.

“Alright, just wanted to be sure…”

“Well, now that that’s settled,” Kurt turned on his most innocent smile, “is it alright if I head out? I think I soaked in all the educational experience possible.”

Burt laughed. “Yes, go. Take Finn with you.”

“Thanks, Dad!” Kurt hugged him quickly before making a beeline for Finn, who was lingering by the dessert table.

“Finn!” he called, as soon as he was close enough to not have to yell.

“Yeah?” Finn turned, a brownie halfway to his mouth.

“We’ve been freed! Let’s go.” He gestured towards the door.

“Really?”

“Yes!” Kurt grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the door. “Let’s go before he changes his mind.”

“Awesome. I’m totally watching the Reds game without him.”

Kurt laughed as Finn started speed walking to the door, rushing ahead of Kurt. “Well, I call dibs on the TV upstairs that has the DVR.”

* * *

Logging onto his laptop the moment he was safely ensconced in the upstairs living room (yes, one of the benefits of his dad being President, was the need to stay in a condo with _two_ living rooms while they traveled because of the secret service agents assigned to protect them), Kurt turned on the TV.

He’d missed chatting with Blaine about the episode as it aired (which was going to be inevitable anyway with the time difference) but Blaine had said he’d try to hold off until Kurt was around…

BowtiesandCoffee: Are you back yet? I want to watchhhhh

BowtiesandCoffee: Kurtttt when does your thing get done??

BowtiesandCoffee: Do you know how much self control this is taking?

BowtiesandCoffee: At least now I don’t have to sit through commercials.

BowtiesandCoffee: Okay I talked to my Grandma for an hour ARE YOU BACK YET??

BowtiesandCoffee: Your silence speaks volumes about your lack of BEING HERE TO WATCH WITH ME

Kurt let out a laugh as he read the messages, warmth spreading through his stomach. Blaine was so worth his decision to break all the rules and set up a tumblr.

BornThisWay: I’m here! I’m ready to watch when you are!

BowtiesandCoffee: Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.

BowtiesandCoffee: Hit play at 10:17 my time?

BornThisWay: Perfect

* * *

Kurt stared out the window of Air Force One as they began their descent into Andrews Field. He loved watching as the ground zoomed closer and closer to him from what basically amounted to a private jet. He didn’t relish the photo op that came with deplaning, but taking Marine One to the White House afterward was always a joy. Washington DC from the air was magnificent. Especially when he got to call the White House home.

“Are you looking forward to going back to school in a few days?” Carole asked him, exiting Burt’s office, where he and Finn were probably watching whatever sport was in season.

Kurt sighed, turning a little in his seat to face her. “It’ll be nice to see my friends again, but I’m not particularly excited about the school work with the added stress of preparing to apply to college.”

Carole grinned, leaning a little closer and lowering her voice. “Well, you know, an advantage of being the son of the sitting President, is that any application you send, gets an automatic bump in status.”

Rolling his eyes a little, Kurt laughed. “It also means I have to make my essays extra good in case any of them leak, and the press is going to write a million articles speculating about where I’m applying and where I’ll go.”

“They’ll be distracted by the election when you’re applying.”

“Only for a little while,” Kurt sighed.

“Are you still thinking you’ll mainly apply to performing arts programs?”

“I think I might only apply to performing arts programs. I’m not sure if Dad’s job is going to help or hurt my chances.” Kurt frowned. “You’re stressing me out. I’m trying not to think about it for now. I have a bunch of AP classes on my schedule this year and I can’t worry about college yet.”

Carole patted him on the knee. “Sometimes I forget how stressful being 16 can be. You-”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” came a voice over the loudspeakers. “We are about to begin our descent into Andrews. Please find your seat and buckle your seatbelts.”

* * *

“Are you both up yet?” Kurt woke with a start as Carole called into the hallway that connected his and Finn’s rooms to the rest of the house.

“Shit,” he muttered, glancing at the clock before throwing the covers off of himself. His alarm was supposed to go off 30 minutes ago. “I’m up!” he called, rushing to his bathroom (oh, the joy of having a room with his own bathroom).

He peered into his mirror, splashing water on his face. Today was the first day of his Junior year of high school. It was going to be his most important academic year yet. He had a lot of work to do, and starting the day off right was critical to starting his year off right.

He quickly washed his face, hearing Carole bang on Finn’s door as he did so. “You had better be awake Finn, or I’ll come in and drag you out of that bed.”

* * *

Arriving at school with ten minutes to spare, he was immediately accosted by Mercedes - his best friend and daughter of North Carolina Senator Yvonne Jones.

“Kurt!” She hugged him tightly, before tugging him towards the cafeteria table they always sat at in the morning. “I missed you! How are you?”

“Good! Well, as good as anyone can be before 8am on their first day back at school. How are you? How was the trip you guys took to France? I’m sorry I’m so terrible about responding to emails, by the way.”

Mercedes laughed. “I can not _wait_ until you’re allowed to get an instagram account so you can at least _see_ my pictures.”

“I saw the ones you emailed and texted me!” Kurt nudged her. “Tell me about it before I have to go to math, otherwise I’ll have to start asking you about where your mom stands on the education bill my dad just submitted.”

“Anything but that!” Mercedes crowed dramatically before pulling out her phone. “I need to start with North Carolina. Remember that boy I told you about? Sam?”

“Ooo, the one you had a crush on when you still went to school there?” Kurt asked, waking up a little.

“Yeah,” Mercedes said with a sly grin and a blush.

“Oh my god! Did you guys hook up? You did, didn’t you? And you didn’t tell me!?”

“A girl has to keep some secrets for the first day of school.” A new text appeared on her screen, and Kurt leaned over to read it.

Sam: First days of school suck. Wish you were here <3

“He sent you a heart?” Kurt cooed as Mercedes shoved him lightly. “How cute.”

* * *

In the beginning of November, around the time that _Project Runway_ was ending and Republicans were kicking their Presidential campaigns into full gear, Kurt was sitting in the library on tumblr during study hall, blatantly ignoring his homework.

BowtiesandCoffee: What’s your last name? I want to stalk you on facebook… We’re at the point in our friendship where we can do that, right?

Kurt stared guiltily at the message for a minute before responding. He was pleased that Blaine wanted to connect with him on other platforms, but not looking forward to spinning more lies.

BornThisWay: I think we are, but I don’t actually have a facebook for you to stalk…

BowtiesandCoffee: What!?!?

BowtiesandCoffee: I’m adding that to the list of evidence that you aren’t actually a real person.

Kurt laughed, the knot in his stomach loosening a little.

BornThisWay: There’s a list? Should I be concerned about this?

 _The no facebook thing is my dad being overprotective,_ Kurt continued to type. _Plus the media would probably report on it daily._

He stared at the message and sighed loudly, deleting the last sentence before hitting send. Hopefully he’d be able to tell Blaine the whole truth once he was 18, in college, and had possibly met him in person. There would be fewer repercussions if Blaine blabbed then. Especially because Kurt wasn’t supposed to have _any_ social media right now, so if Blaine told people, then he’d be in extra big trouble. One of the downsides of your father being the President of the United States.

Someone at the NSA, CIA, or FBI was probably aware of his account, but, well, if they were, they’d been kind enough to let it slide thus far.

His computer pinged with a response from Blaine.

BowtiesandCoffee: Ah. I should have figured. We’ve got to find a way to get him to loosen up.

BowtiesandCoffee: How do you navigate high school without facebook?

BornThisWay: Well, it helps that a lot of my classmates have similarly overprotective parents.

BornThisWay: Is your private school not like that?

BowtiesandCoffee: No! Besides, the boys would probably set it up anyway. How else would they organize secret rendezvous with the Crawford girls?

BornThisWay: Good point

BornThisWay: I gotta go, speech and debate starts in a few

BowtiesandCoffee: Have fun!

Kurt logged off, gathering his things quickly as he wished for the millionth time since he had ‘met’ Blaine, that he was living another life. A life where instead of pursuing politics, his father had just continued to live quietly in Ohio, running his auto repair shop and relishing Midwestern life. Maybe then he could have met Blaine under normal circumstances. Circumstances where he didn’t have to hide his identity and make up a slew of white lies to protect his secret.

Instead, Burt had gone from state politics, to national politics, to President. So, for the last three years, Kurt had been living the life of the President’s son. An interesting place to be, especially when he’d decided to come out to the world at 14.

* * *

A few weeks later, Kurt was finishing an essay at school when his tumblr pinged with a new message.

BowtiesandCoffee: How did I not know that Kurt Hummel was gay?

Kurt blinked at the screen. Was he really about to enter this conversation? He sighed. Time to talk about himself in the third person.

BornThisWay: What?

BowtiesandCoffee: The president's son. Your namesake. Is gay.

Kurt laughed.

BornThisWay: My namesake? Really?

BornThisWay: How did you not know he was gay?! That was of the utmost importance during the election! It was practically the crux of all arguments against the President

BowtiesandCoffee: I'm sorry I wasn't as politically aware as you apparently were at fourteen :P

BornThisWay: Apology accepted :P

BowtiesandCoffee: I'm really excited about this though! How did I miss this? All this time, he could’ve been my role model!

Kurt choked. _Role model_ ? He knew he was a role model for many LGBT youth - he made an effort to attend LGBT events when he could - but being a role model for _Blaine_ was _weird._ They were friends and Blaine had no idea who Kurt really was.

BornThisWay: I thought you had a strict “pop star only” rule to role models

BowtiesandCoffee: Just because I have a ...slight obsession with Katy Perry, Pink, and Adam Levine, doesn’t mean I can’t have other role models! I just added Kurt Hummel to my list. Other Kurt. Famous Kurt.

Rolling his eyes, Kurt shook his head at his computer screen.

BornThisWay: Does this mean I’m going to see a lot of him on my dash now?

BowtiesandCoffee: Do you have something against him?

BornThisWay: Of course not. No. He’s great. I’m just teasing

BowtiesandCoffee: If you say so…

BowtiesandCoffee: Oh shit, he’s adorable

Kurt blinked. Blaine thought he was adorable.

BornThisWay: Uh oh, I’m losing you to the rabbit hole!

BornThisWay: The bell just went off - I gotta get to my next class. I better not come back to find your blog has become a Kurt Hummel Only blog =P

Kurt quickly logged off, only to stare blankly at his computer screen for a moment. He was so screwed. Blaine was going to _murder_ him when he found out that he was actually Kurt Hummel.

* * *

Late the next night, Kurt crept down to the kitchen, and set some milk on the stove. Between the essay he had due tomorrow, Blaine’s new obsession with Kurt Hummel, and the current political atmosphere stressing his dad out, Kurt was having trouble focusing. He needed to unwind but he didn't really have anyone he could talk to openly about everything. Blaine was a secret from his family and friends, his family's identity was a secret from Blaine.

Some nights, when Kurt had trouble sleeping, he would sneak over to the kitchen, warm up some milk, and write a letter to his mom. It always helped him work through some of his feelings and gave him a connection to his late mother without having to worry that anyone would actually read the letter and ruin his carefully balanced pile of accidental lies.

As he took the sauce pan off the burner - pausing a moment to acknowledge to himself that yes, he was carrying out this childhood habit in the kitchen of _The White House_ \- there was the sound of footsteps padding down the hall.

He froze a moment before recognizing them as his dad's. Pouring the milk into two mugs now, he sat down on a stool at the breakfast bar, tucking his notebook in the pocket of his robe as he did so.

His dad paused, eyes landing on Kurt as he entered the kitchen. "What're you doing up so late, Bud? You have school in the morning."

“And you have a meeting with the prime ministers of Denmark and Sweden tomorrow, but you don’t see me bothering you about being awake,” Kurt teased. “Do you want some milk?” he added, nodding towards the second mug sitting on the counter next to him.

Burt gave him a grateful smile before sitting down next to him and grabbing a mug. “I see your point there. You still got homework to do or is something else bothering you? You seemed awfully quiet at dinner.”

Kurt’s grip on his mug tightened, paranoia that his dad knew _something_ about Blaine’s existence flashing through his stomach. “I have a paper due tomorrow on the symbolism of blood in _Macbeth_. I can’t seem to focus, so I took a break.” He’d actually finished it an hour ago, but his dad didn’t need to know that.

His dad hummed, sipping his drink quietly. “I never did like English classes much.”

Kurt laughed, taking a nice sip of milk before setting his mug down. “Okay Dad, now it’s your turn. Why are you still up?”

“I heard someone in the kitchen and thought it might be my son, looking for some company.”

Kurt eyed him carefully for a moment before shaking his head. “No you’re not, something else is bothering you.”

Burt took a sip from his mug before answering.

“A lot of things are bothering me these days,” he sighed. “I have to start my campaign up soon and I’m just beginning to realize how much less time I’ll get to spend with you next fall because of it. Your last year before college and I’ll be spending the beginning of it running all over the country.”

“Well it is your job to keep a roof over my head,” Kurt teased. “I’m quite fond of this one.”

* * *

Kurt went to school the next day resolved to find a way to talk to Blaine from his house. He wanted to provide a distraction from Blaine’s newfound obsessions, plus, after his conversation with his dad the night before about everything changing when he leaves for college, Kurt wanted more opportunities to talk to Blaine. Texting was obviously out, and Skype chat would lead to more questions. Email seemed clunky, but... old school IM might work. Or email chat on Kurt's dummy email set up purely for tumblr usage and any websites he wanted to log into.

BornThisWay: heyyyy Blaine!

Kurt had twenty minutes before class started and he knew that Blaine usually checked tumblr over breakfast, which, by Kurt's calculations, was happening right then.

Luckily, he only had to wait a few minutes for a response.

BowtiesandCoffee: Someone's chipper for a Thursday morning. How'd the paper go?

BornThisWay: ugh horribly, but I got it done and had a good talk with my dad in the process.

BornThisWay: How did the dinner go with your parents?

BowtiesandCoffee: Glad you had a good talk! Dinner was interesting. Dad and I somehow got into a fight (sorry mom) and he wound up apologizing about the car. He finally admitted that he'd partly chosen the car because he wanted to make sure I was 'manly' or whatever, but he claims he also just wanted to bond and potentially provide me with a car we built together.

BornThisWay: That's good news, right?

BowtiesandCoffee: I think so? Did your talk with your dad result in any new internet privileges? ;)

BornThisWay: I'm rolling my eyes at you. My dad is _never_ going to lighten up about the social media thing until I'm 18 and off to college.

BornThisWay: He actually did get me thinking though... we could channel our inner 90s kid and use AIM or just use chat on email.

BowtiesandCoffee: Is AIM still around?? If so I am all for that. Do you think away message still exists? Excuse me, I need to skip first period so I can look into this.

BornThisWay: Haha ok, AIM it is! I should be able to use that when at home, so we'll actually be able to have conversations that're longer than 15 minutes and not done in full stealth mode during the school year.

BowtiesandCoffee: Yay!

BornThisWay: The first bell just went off, but I'll try to message you later with my screen name!

BowtiesandCoffee: You mean you won't be using one from elementary school? I was so looking forward to what little Kurt had picked!

Kurt chuckled quietly as he prepared to shut down his laptop, wondering what Blaine's name had been back in the day.

"Hey! What's so funny?" Mercedes asked coming up behind him.

"Nothing!" Kurt rushed to say, managing to maximize his tumblr window instead of closing it in his haste.

“Is that tumblr?” Mercedes cried out, snatching Kurt’s laptop before he could slam it closed and feign innocence. “How did you not tell me about this?!”

“Shh,” Kurt hissed, glancing around to see if they’d drawn anyone’s attention.

“How could you not tell me?” Mercedes hissed.

“Secrets are easier to keep if you don’t tell people. You know I’m not supposed to have an account,” he added with an apologetic smile. “Can I have my computer back n-?”

“You have a message!” To Kurt’s relief, she didn’t open it. Instead, she handed the laptop back and stared at him expectantly. “Open it!”

Kurt hesitated for a moment before opening the message, deciding that at this point, it wouldn’t hurt to tell Mercedes about Blaine. In fact, it would be exciting to be able to actually talk to someone else about him.

BowtiesandCoffee: Have fun in class! I’ll be spending first period trying to guess what 10 year old Kurt used for IM

Kurt glanced at Mercedes, whose eyes were zipping over the whole conversation. He bit his lip, closing the window and shutting his laptop down.

“I’ll explain at lunch, but right now we’re about to be late for bio.”

“Boy, you better explain.”

* * *

“Spill.” Mercedes said, placing her lunch tray on the table in front of him. “When exactly did you get a tumblr and who were you talking to?”

Kurt took a bite of his turkey sandwich, chewing slowly before answering. “I got it last summer. I was watching _Project Runway_ during some work trip with my dad, and stumbled on some tumblr posts about it and just… decided to join.”

“And didn’t tell me.” Mercedes raised an eyebrow.

“It was only supposed to be a short term thing!” Kurt protested. “Then Blaine and I started talking and I wasn’t so keen on deleting my account when the season ended…”

“Ooo, _Blaine_.” Mercedes leaned towards him. “Tell me more.”

“He’s a friend. Who likes _Project Runway_ ,” Kurt hedged.

“Really? That’s all I get. Come onnnn,” Mercedes whined, poking him in the side.

“Okay. FIne.” Kurt felt a smile bloom across his face. “He’s kind of amazing? He goes to a private school in Ohio, he’s gay, he sings, and he’s kind of my best friend aside from you.” Kurt sighed, thinking about all the laughs he’d had with Blaine since they’d started talking.

“Does he… know?”

Kurt blinked, coming back to the conversation at hand. “Know what?”

“About you?” Mercedes raised her eyebrows pointedly.

“Oh!” Of course. “No! No. When I got my tumblr, I obviously wasn’t about to announce my true identity. You know I can’t have any social media accounts. So, he just knows that I’m Kurt with the overprotective dad.”

“You gave him your real first name?”

“What! I panicked when he first told me! Plus, ‘Kurt’ isn’t the most unique name in the world. He hasn’t put two and two together yet. Although…” Kurt blushed beet red.

“What?” Mercedes grabbed his arm. “You’re turning red. What??”

“He may have just… developed a crush on me. On Kurt Hummel me. Not knowing that that’s me.”

“Is this going to turn into some _Twelfth Night_ situation?”

“I hope not,” Kurt laughed. “Although that would bode well for me…”

* * *

BornThisWay: My boring new IM name is Kurt3

BowtiesAndCoffee: Well that’s disappointing.

BowtiesAndCoffee: Alright I just made mine and in my attempt to channel you… mine’s BlaineA

BowtiesAndCoffee: How was your day?

BornThisWay: A little weird… One of my friends found out I have a tumblr

BowtiesAndCoffee: No one knew??

BornThisWay: The best way to keep it a secret from my dad is to not tell anyone! Friends spill secrets Blaine!

BowtiesAndCoffee: Very true! How’d she find out?

BornThisWay: Caught me in the library this morning, demanded to know more at lunch

* * *

BlaineA: Kurtttt I tried to ask my friend Jeremiah out for Valentine's day via a song, but I got him fired and now he hates me.

Kurt3: Jeremiah?

BlaineA: Yeah... haven't I mentioned him to you? We've gotten coffee a few times.

Kurt's brow furrowed a little. Blaine had most decidedly not told him about Jeremiah. Not that he expected to know everything about Blaine's life, but he'd thought he knew the important things currently going. That would include boys Blaine was crushing on and asking out via song.

BlaineA: Well, he works at the Gap, and I thought he liked me so I persuaded the warblers to sing backup vocals for me on When I Get You Alone....

BlaineA: Kurt. I got him FIRED and he said no.

Kurt blinked. He'd seen that video. Or at least the thirty second snippet someone had posted on tumblr.

Kurt3: Hold up. That was you?

Blaine was hot. And talented. Kurt was in deep trouble.

BlaineA: What?

BlaineA: oh no

BlaineA: Please don't tell me someone filmed it and put it online.

Kurt3: Just part of it! It was good. Like really good. I had no idea you were so talented!

BlaineA: God. I'm so embarrassed. Kurt.

Kurt3: Blaine. You were amazing, and the video doesn't even show this Jeremiah guy at all. It looks like it was just an impromptu performance.

BlaineA: I'm never going to be allowed in a Gap ever again

Kurt couldn't help the giggle that escaped his lips. He was disappointed that Blaine was interested in someone else when Kurt was more than a little hung up on him, but he couldn't exactly fault him for that.

Kurt3: it was my impression that you spent most of your time in Dalton uniforms or repping Brooks Brothers anyways. Or is your Brooks Brothers obsession limited to window shopping?

BlaineA: Kurtttt

Kurt3: You know that guy is an idiot for turning you down, right?

BlaineA: pretty sure I'm the idiot for serenading him at his place of work when he wasn't out at work.

Kurt3: oh.

Kurt3: Yikes :/

BlaineA: Yeah

BlaineA: ugh, I think I'm just going to call it a night

Kurt3: ok... sleep well! I'll talk to you tomorrow?

BlaineA: of course. Goodnight <3

Kurt3: goodnight

He rolled onto his back, sighing, a few tears running down his face. It wasn’t as though he could act on his romantic feelings for Blaine even if Blaine _did_ like him instead of Jeremiah. Knowing Blaine liked someone else made dreaming about it less fun, though.

Hearing a cabinet slam in the kitchen, Kurt wiped his eyes and headed through his sewing room to see what Finn was up to. Last time he'd caught Finn in the kitchen late at night, he'd been eating the bag of chocolate chips Kurt had been planning on using the next day.

He opened the door to see Finn with his head in the fridge.

"What on earth are you up to?" Kurt interrupted.

"Wah-" Finn jumped, head smacking into the freezer. "Ow!" He rubbed the back of his head, turning to look at Kurt. "I was just getting a snack. What are _you_ up to?"

"I heard a thud and wanted to see what the racket was," Kurt countered.

Finn raised an eyebrow, peering closer. "Are you alright?"

"Am I-? What?" Kurt folded his arms over his chest. "Why wouldn't I be alright?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking... your eyes look puffy and you've got that weird grimace on your face that happens when you're pretending everything's fine."

"I guess I'm just stressed," Kurt hedged, nudging Finn out of the way so he could grab the slice of cheesecake he'd saved.

Finn stuck a bag of popcorn in the microwave before sitting down at the table.

“Stressed about what? Must be pretty bad if it’s making you cry.”

Kurt sighed, plopping himself down across from Finn. “It’s just been one of those days.”

Finn cocked his head questioningly.

“I don’t know, I had a weird day at school, and then…” he filtered through his head for an excuse. “I was doing math homework, and got pretty frustrated trying to figure out one of the answers. Hence the crying.” Kurt gestured at his face. “What about you? Popcorn is more involved than your usual late night snack.”

It was Finn’s turn to sigh.

“Oh no,” Kurt interrupted before Finn could start talking. “If this is about the Quinn / Rachel debacle I don’t want to hear about it.”

* * *

“Good morning!” Mercedes chirped, clearly already starting in on the coffee.

Kurt sat down heavily. “Morning,” he replied dully.

“Well, isn’t someone just a ray of sunshine this morning,” Mercedes teased.

Kurt couldn’t even manage a smile. “I was wrong about Blaine liking me.”

“What?”

“You know that video I sent you yesterday? Of that a capella group singing _When I Get You Alone_ at The Gap?” Kurt fiddled with his phone as he spoke.

“Yes?”

“The lead singer in it is Blaine.”

“The lead singer is- That’s what Blaine looks like?? That’s what he sings like? What’s the problem here, that seems like good news to me.”

Kurt sighed again, burying his head in his arms on the table. “He was serenading a boy he liked with it.”

“I’m sorry Kurt,” Mercedes rubbed his shoulder gently.

“I can’t even blame him really. I just wish it had been me.”

“You wish you worked in The Gap,” Mercedes teased.

Kurt turned his head so he could glare at her, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. “Just let me be miserable, okay?”

* * *

Winter quickly turned into spring as the school year raced to an end. Kurt was sitting in the back of the study hall room, laptop plugged into the wall, as he slowly put together the bibliography for his history paper.

Refreshing his tumblr, Kurt grinned as he saw a new message appear in chat.

BowtiesandCoffee: School is boring today. We're working on a project that I finished last night. Everyone glared at me when I said I'd finished, but it's not my fault! I have a competition this weekend! I had to finish it.

BornThisWay: Woah woah woah. I thought they all worshipped you

BowtiesandCoffee: Apparently rockstar status doesn’t apply to finishing projects early

BornThisWay: I guess that’s fair. Plus, they’re probably all just as jealous as I am that you get to go to NYC this weekend!

BowtiesandCoffee: Did I tell you that my mom convinced the school that I need to tour a college campus while I’m there?

BornThisWay: No! What? Really?

BowtiesandCoffee: Yup. NYU here we come!

BornThisWay: Not Columbia?

BowtiesandCoffee: NYU is closer to our hotel apparently

BornThisWay: Exciting!

BowtiesandCoffee: You up to anything fun this weekend?

BornThisWay: The weekend is so far off

BornThisWay: But my dad gets back from his business trip later this week so we’ll probably have family game night or something to celebrate.

* * *

After a two month internship at Vogue (finally! His dad being President had let him make a dream come true!), Kurt spent the remaining weeks of his summer vacation on the campaign trail with his dad.

As much as his dad had assured him that he didn’t _have_ to be there - any campaigning was optional on Kurt’s part - Kurt insisted on being there. He couldn’t bear the thought of any of the Republican candidates winning, and while being on the campaign trail could be exhausting at times, it was also fun. Plus, he didn’t always trust that the staff were keeping as much of an eye on his dad’s health as they should.

BlaineA: Guess who I get to see tomorrow!?

Kurt3: Who?!

BlaineA: Kurt Hummel!!!!!

Kurt blinked at his screen. What?

Kurt3: What?

BlaineA: I’m going to see President Hummel at his OSU campaign stop tomorrow and word on the street is that Kurt’s going to be with him!

Kurt3: Is he giving a speech or something?

Kurt definitely wasn’t going to be giving a speech, but he was going to be up front, cheering his dad on with Carole and Finn. Now, he’d probably be spending the whole time trying to spot Blaine.

BlaineA: Probably not, but he’ll be there!! I’ll say hi to him for you if I can

Kurt3: You get to meet him??

Kurt didn’t really think Blaine would get to meet him but he had to check. He did sometimes talk to interviewers, if his dad was delayed or they wanted a quote about some LGBT issue.

BlaineA: Probably not =( A guy can dream though!

Kurt3: Haha ok, I hope you at least get to see him!

* * *

The next morning, Kurt woke up an entire hour before his alarm. An unprecedented event for him on the campaign. Heading into the kitchen, he poured himself a cup of coffee - lucky for him, many of the campaign people were already awake.

Despite knowing he was being ridiculous, Kurt spent some extra time dressing for the rally. He wanted to impress Blaine even if Blaine had no idea it was _him_.

Before the rally began, Kurt, Carole, and Finn were seated in a special box with other politicians, just off to the side of the crowd.

Finn and Carole chatted about the school - Finn was thinking of applying - while Kurt shifted restlessly in his seat. Blaine was here. They were sharing the same space. He hadn’t _spotted_ Blaine yet, but Blaine had sent him a message that morning confirming that he was on his way to the rally.

Every time Kurt saw a head of dark brown hair, Kurt’s heart picked up a little. So far, the hair hadn’t been Blaine’s, but there were one or two people he thought _could_ be him. Kind of tricky to tell when he was basing Blaine’s appearance off a video someone had taken on their phone, and didn’t have the best visibility on individual members of the crowd.

“You okay Kurt?” Carole laid a hand on his knee, bringing his attention back to the people around him. “You look pretty antsy.”

“I’m fine, just… looking to see if I recognize anyone.”

* * *

BlaineA: I saw him!!!!!

Kurt hadn’t spotted Blaine in the crowd, but he wasn’t too surprised that Blaine had managed to spot him. Not only had they been placed prominently, his dad had pointed them out at one point.

Kurt3: Really?!

May as well indulge the boy.

BlaineA: Yes! You know how gorgeous he is in photos?

Kurt preened.

Kurt3: Perhaps…

BlaineA: Oh don’t give me that! You can’t possibly not think he’s good looking. This past year he’s managed to transition from cute and adorable, to gorgeous.

Kurt3: If you say so :P

BlaineA: Ugh whatever :P The point is, he’s somehow 10x’s better looking in person. I could barely take my eyes off him.

Oh god. Kurt was blushing a bright red. At what point was Blaine not going to be able to forgive him for keeping his identity a secret? At some point, the things Blaine said about this crush were going to be too much, right? He’d serenaded someone at The Gap, so his tolerance for embarrassment was clearly high, but it still worried him.

Time to steer the conversation away from himself.

Kurt3: Kurt Hummel aside, how was the rest of the rally? I heard President Hummel gives good speeches


	2. Senior Year

Senior year kicked off with a veritable tidal wave of college mail, increased media scrutiny of the White House - which would only get worse until the election was over - and an ever growing panic about what the post-high school world would be like for Kurt. Before his dad had gotten elected President, it was all he’d ever dreamed of.

The post-high school world meant leaving homophobic Lima and being free to pursue his dreams and live his life exactly how he wanted - or, as close to ‘exactly as he wanted’ as he could get on a miniscule budget. It was more complicated now, though. It still meant more freedom and getting to pursue his dreams, but he’d be living under the eye of the media and his fellow classmates. Anywhere he went, at least for a while, people would know him as the President’s kid. The security guards would be a dead giveaway, even if they tried to be discreet.

There was also Blaine to consider. Or there would be, if Blaine wasn’t spending all of his free time with one of the new Warblers.

Kurt hadn’t even met Sebastian and he already hated him.

So, after waking up to three different messages from Blaine, talking about his adventures with Sebastian, Kurt wasn’t in a particularly good mood when he walked into school Wednesday morning.

* * *

Taking another sip of his coffee for fortification, Kurt walked into the cafeteria of Sidwell Friends High School. Mercedes was already sitting at their table, so Kurt made a beeline for her.

He grunted a hello as he sat down.

“I have dibs on being grumpy this morning,” Mercedes complained. “I need you to cheer me up.”

Kurt eyed her over his cup. “I’ll tell you what’s up with me and then you tell me what’s up with you, and then we’ll decide who gets to be grumpy.”

“You’re not gonna win, but go ahead,” Mercedes sighed.

“I woke up to Blaine gushing about all of his wonderful Sebastian adventures. Either he likes Sebastian or it’s some weird ploy to make me jealous.”

“Sam got a girlfriend.”

Kurt nearly spit out his coffee. “He _what_?! I thought you two were getting back together, though. You said this summer you talked over your break up and were on the-”

“Apparently I was wrong.” Mercedes sat up straighter, rolling her eyes.

* * *

Kurt3: I just got assigned a group project

BlaineA: My condolences

Kurt giggled.

Kurt3: Thanks :P I don’t think I’ll need your condolences though

Kurt3: I wanted to show you some of the ridiculous texts my partner Chandler keeps sending me. He’s so funny, he’s got an absurd number of dumb pick up lines.

Kurt3: For example, he just texted me “Are you an astronaut? Because your smile is out of this world”

BlaineA: Aww, that’s cute. Is he… are you two…?

Kurt blinked. Was that Blaine trying to find out if he and Chandler were _dating_? Hope flickered through him. Was he jealous?

Kurt3: Dating? No. We met like two days ago Blaine

BlaineA: Oh. Okay. Cool. Just checking. He seems to like you already =P Can’t really blame him ;)

* * *

BlaineA: You know Sebastian, right?

Kurt raised an eyebrow

Kurt3: ‘Know’ as in ‘know personally’? No. I _feel_ like I know him at this point though because you talk about him so much

BlaineA: Right. Sorry.

BlaineA: He’s angling for a duet for Sectionals. I was all for it and supported him when he proposed the idea to the Warbler Council, but he wants to sing _Whistle_. With me. I can’t sing that in front of my parents! Especially not with a boy who has made more than a few innuendos in front of my parents…

Well, Sebastian sure continued to come across as quite the ...charmer. Kurt rolled his eyes at Sebastian’s complete lack of subtlety, and Blaine’s seeming obliviousness to it, before cracking his knuckles. Time to try to give Blaine some advice and at least nudge him towards realizing that Sebastian wasn’t as harmless as Blaine thought. The trick was doing so without coming across as jealous.

Kurt3: Shouldn’t the council be turning him away from it?

BlaineA: It falls into our usual top 40 so Sebastian thinks they’ll allow it. And I want him to have a chance to perform though, if the council thinks he should. Part of that process is helping select the song, so I don’t want to cheat him of that experience!

Kurt3: _Whistle_ seems outside the usual top 40 _family friendly_ norm that you guys have. Why’s he so set on that one? Shouldn’t you get some say in this discussion if you’re going to be singing it too?

BlaineA: Yeah… Sebastian isn’t the most popular person with the Warblers though, so I want to be supportive

Kurt3: You shouldn’t be unhappy just to make him happy though

BlaineA: That’s true… maybe I’ll suggest a different song. I gotta go, but thank you Kurt!

* * *

“Hey, Dad?” Kurt had been sitting in the living room, doing homework, while his dad caught up on some work that’d had to be put off in favor of a campaign event.

Burt grunted in acknowledgement, looking up from the report he was reading a moment later. “Yeah, Bud?”

Kurt closed his laptop, deciding he was done with his common app essay for the moment. “What… what happens if you lose?”

Setting his papers aside, Burt got up from his armchair and moved to sit next to Kurt on the couch. “What’s making you worry about this?”

“Dad.” Kurt rolled his eyes. “You know I believe you’re the best candidate, and that I’m voting for you, but you can’t act like it’s not a possibility.” Struggling to keep his face neutral, Kurt continued, “I’ve heard you and Carole talk about it once or twice. I don’t think we’ve discussed it as a family, though, since we all sat down and gave our thoughts on the possibility of you running for re-election.”

“The polls are looking good, and-”

“Dad,” Kurt interrupted. “Come on.”

“Well, we’d stay in DC until you and Finn graduated in the spring, and we’d move back to Lima. I’ve actually been looking forward to having a more active hand in the shop after I do my second term.”

“ _Dad_ ,” Kurt laughed, his nerves about the upcoming election fading away temporarily. “You can’t work at the shop after being President of the United States!”

“Says who?”

“Tradition dictates that you retire and write your memoirs and give advice.”

“Advice on cars?” Burt teased.

Kurt mulled it over for a moment. “It would certainly give the press something to talk about. Plus, anyone who claimed you were faking the whole ‘down to earth Ohio mechanic’ thing would have to eat their words.”

“Revenge at its finest.” Burt glanced at the old clock on the wall. “Isn’t it time for you to be in bed?”

“Dad,” Kurt huffed, getting off the couch. “I’m 18. I don’t have a bedtime.”

* * *

A few nights later, Kurt was pulled from his musings about what to wear that evening, by a ping on his computer. Assuming it was Blaine, who he hadn’t been able to sync up with in days, Kurt abandoned the scarf he’d been holding and darted over to his computer.

BlaineA: You around tonight?

Kurt3: Sorry! I have some project work to get done with Chandler

BlaineA: Again?

Kurt3: It’s a big project! Talk tomorrow night?

BlaineA: Can’t. I have a late rehearsal. Won’t even be a problem by then.

Kurt sighed, glancing at the clock. He really did need to meet up with Chandler soon. He couldn’t exactly put it off, especially with the election happening the following week.

Kurt3: Message me about it? I really have to go. I’ll try to get back to you if I get a chance

He stared at his computer for a minute, receiving no response. Shrugging, he turned it off. If it concerned Sebastian, he wasn’t particularly interested anyway. Nothing good could come from it.

* * *

BlaineA: We get to vote in our first election tomorrow!!

Kurt3: Oh, is that tomorrow?

BlaineA: You can’t see me right now, but I’m glaring at you

Kurt3: Just kidding :P I actually already voted. My dad’s big on the absentee ballot because of his work schedule, so I joined him. Mailed it in a few weeks ago.

BlaineA: You’ll miss out on all the fun!

Kurt snorted.

Kurt3: From what I remember of the last time I went to vote with my dad, the “fun” consisted of standing in line for a half hour before my dad voted for all of like five minutes, grumbling the whole time about having to pick between two equally awful candidates

Kurt3: I didn’t hear any grumbling this year though. I think he was very happy to vote for President Hummel

He couldn’t help it. He had to have fun with his secret identity every once in a while.

BlaineA: Who isn’t?

Kurt3: I hear the homophobes aren’t too happy

BlaineA: Yeah, well, they’re going to have to get over it because Hummel is currently polling very well against Decker

* * *

Despite it being a school day, Kurt was in Florida. Election Day meant one last campaign push. It was also the only day that Burt let him take off from school for political reasons. That time Burt had had a campaign dinner hosted by Lady Gaga? Kurt had had to stay in DC because of school. That time the royal family had visited? School.

Kurt (and Finn) had insisted they be there for Election Day, though. Whether his dad won or lost, Kurt wanted to be by his side. Plus, there was no way he was going to get anything out of school on a day like this. His heart and mind were with his dad and the polls, so he was better off hosting the LGBT luncheon in Orlando.

In the sliver of time Kurt had in the car between the luncheon and meeting up with the rest of the family to attend a dinner before the polls started closing, Kurt checked his phone. Due to the special circumstances, he determined that opening AIM on his phone, just this once, wouldn’t be the end of the world.

He was immediately flooded by messages from Blaine.

BlaineA: Can the bell ring soon? I’m ready to go vote!

BlaineA: President Hummel needs my support!

BlaineA: The bell just rang!! I’ll be back later! I have a pack of seniors to lead to their polling location. And a few to berate for not absentee voting

BlaineA: I went and voted and they gave me a sticker!!

BlaineA: Do I stick it on my car, or would that be too dorky?

Kurt3: When have you ever been afraid to be dorky?

BlaineA: Never. I stuck it on my car.

Kurt3: Blaine! That’s going to leave such a gross residue on your car when it rains

BlaineA: Huh. I didn’t consider that. See what happens when you’re too busy hanging out with your dad to supervise me?

Kurt3: Well, try not to get into too much trouble tonight. I gotta go!

* * *

The car pulled up at the convention center that evening, and the Hummels piled out of the car, security guards flanking them as they entered the building. Polls were due to start closing in thirty minutes and Kurt could feel the nerves bubbling up inside of him.

All of the experts had already done everything short of officially calling the election for his dad, but Kurt wasn’t going to believe it until all of the votes were counted. Or at least until _some_ votes started coming in. The experts had been wrong before.

They were escorted down a dingy hallway and into a room in the basement of the building. Kurt would have laughed at the irony of the President of the United States waiting for election results in such a shabby place, but the room they were led into was bright, comfortable, and blissfully empty, aside from Burt’s top aides and campaign manager.

A nice change from four year years ago, when several members of the press had been allowed in, ramping everyone’s nerves up to 11.

The evening ticked by slowly. One TV had CNN on. They ignored the hosts’ inane talk about who would win what and what states to watch - it was nothing they didn’t know. Instead, Finn, Kurt, Burt, and Burt’s campaign manager, Beiste, started a game of Sorry, while Carole spoke to the staffers who were hanging around. It didn’t distract them from the polls as much as they’d hoped it would, but it was better than staring at the TV anxiously for 6 hours as the results came in. California’s polls weren’t even closed. It wasn’t even 5pm in Hawaii yet.

Five games of Sorry, three rounds of charades, and one pizza party later, Burt was giving his acceptance speech in front of a screaming crowd, and Kurt was elated, but ready for bed.

* * *

After the election, Kurt dove into his college applications, sending them all off before Thanksgiving. He was applying primarily to schools in NYC, but had added Berklee and Yale to his list, just in case he decided he didn’t want to go to New York for some reason. Or in case he didn’t get into one of his top pick musical theater programs. He didn’t want to assume that he’d automatically get into NYADA or AMDA with his talent, grades, and ...celebrity.

He was hoping it would give him a leg up, though.

* * *

Kurt bolted to the library to check tumblr and AIM for new messages from Blaine the moment the bell signalling the end of class rang. Usually, he'd head home first, unless he had something to work on in the library, but today was special. Today was the day that Blaine found out if he’d gotten into NYU. Kurt had heard back from NYADA a few days ago, and it was only then that he had found out about Blaine’s plans to attend NYU in the fall. If they accepted him.

If he did get accepted, then they’d both be NYC bound next year, and going to their top pick schools.

BlaineA: I got in!!!!

Kurt beamed at his computer, not caring how ridiculous he probably looked to anyone nearby.

Kurt3: YAY!!!!

BlaineA: I was going to suggest a Skype party to celebrate, but you're probably still all "nooo I don't have a webcam" because you insist on being stuck in the 90s =P

Kurt3: Not to mention the fact that the librarians would definitely frown on me skyping right now

BlaineA: I’m rolling my eyes at you

Kurt3: Roll your eyes all you want, we won’t need skype next year because we’ll both be in New York!!

BlaineA:  New York here we come! There's no way you're going to be able to avoid me there!

Kurt3: In a city of millions? No way

BlaineA: So you’re not going to meet up with me?

Kurt3: Now _I’m_ rolling my eyes at _you_. We're definitely going to meet up. All the time. How could we not?

BlaineA: Exactly, besides, it probably wouldn’t be too difficult for me to track down a NYADA student if I wanted to…

BlaineA: Wait! I forgot about the other exciting news of the day! Sebastian got kicked off the Warblers

Kurt3: The council booted him??

BlaineA: Well, no, not exactly. He got caught hooking up with some college kid who was supposed to be substitute teaching

* * *

Kurt was trudging through the hall - the late night chats with Blaine seemed to finally be catching up to him - when he heard heavy footsteps chasing after him.

"Kurt!"

Whirling around, Kurt spotted Finn and stopped to let him catch up.

"What's up?" Kurt asked, starting to walk again once Finn reached him.

"I was going to ask you that. You practically fell asleep during choir this morning, and you didn't get up for breakfast this morning. You okay?"

"Just tired, I guess." Kurt smiled warmly at him. "School work, you know?"

Finn glanced over at him, looking a little suspicious. "School work was making you burst out laughing every few minutes at 1 am on a school night?"

Kurt swallowed a grimace. He knew those walls weren't thick enough, even with the hallway and closet between their rooms. "If you must know, I was laughing at some YouTube videos," he lied.

Finn didn't look like he completely bought Kurt's lie, but he nodded, apparently deciding to let it go. "Well, I'm the last person to be able to hand out lectures on going to bed at a reasonable hour, but you might want to try it again. You look dead on your feet."

Once Finn was gone, Kurt sighed. He should probably make an effort to get more sleep, but he kept losing track of time discussing NYC dreams with Blaine. Then, after signing off with Blaine, he struggled to fall asleep, because he was beginning to freak out about telling Blaine the truth about himself.


	3. Freshman Year

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Burt asked Kurt, as their car slowly rolled down the street towards the dorm room Kurt would be calling home for the next year.

“Don’t you think it’s a little late to be asking me that?” Kurt teased. “We’ve already caused mass chaos, and I haven’t even moved my stuff into my dorm.”

“I’m going to miss having you around the house, kid.” Burt wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and Kurt, eagerly looking out the window, noticed that they were only a block away from NYADA now. “Secret Service came in early and installed bulletproof windows in your dorm, along with cameras in the hall, and you’ll recognize some of them living as students in your buil-”

“Dad, I know.” Kurt turned in his seat to look at his dad. “I even watched _First Daughter_ and talked to Chelsea about her experience. I know I’ve got smartphones and wifi to contend with, but I’m not planning on getting crazy. Besides, Emma Watson survived Brown without any horror stories coming to light. I think I’ll be okay.”

“Just be careful, okay? I want you to have fun and do some trail blazing, but I inadvertently put a target on your back with this whole President deal-”

“Hey, Dad?”

Burt paused, looking amused. “Yes?”

“Can we just pretend that we’re doing this college drop off like a normal family. You help me move in, I act embarrassed that you’re lingering so long, while I really just want you to stay longer, and you eventually head out because you have to get home at a reasonable hour? I know we have a thousand journalists following us, but can we just… pretend?”

“Sure thing, kid.” Burt clapped him on the back. “But we’re still having Secret Service carry most of your things up. I’m not just paying them to look pretty and protect us.”

* * *

Eventually, his dad left, and Kurt was left sitting in his dorm room, unsure of what to do next. His roommate (thoroughly vetted by Secret Service - as was every other person living in his building) hadn’t shown up yet, and orientation activities weren’t supposed to start until dinner. And Kurt wasn’t exactly brave enough to go introduce himself to his neighbors. Every college advice column said he should, but he wasn’t ready to be stared at by his classmates yet. He’d brave the hallways once his roommate agreed to go with him.

Instead, he logged onto tumblr (from his phone! He was officially allowed to have a tumblr now, and he was going to take advantage of that). He’d intended to just scroll mindlessly through his dash for a bit, but instead he found six new inbox messages. A rare occurrence since he and Blaine had shifted their conversations to AIM.

BowtiesAndCoffee: You know I love Kurt Hummel, but wow is his arrival creating even more traffic than usual

BowtiesAndCoffee: Wait, hold up. How did I not realize this sooner? You’re going to school with him! I hope that doesn’t affect your move

BowtiesAndCoffee: Also if he’s in one of your classes I’m going to need you to tell me if he’s really as awesome as he seems

BowtiesAndCoffee: Seriously though, I posted a picture of the traffic he’s causing. I know NYC is supposed to have horrible traffic, but this is just insane.

BowtiesAndCoffee: Did you know that Chelsea Clinton had like 250 journalists following her when she started school?

BowtiesAndCoffee: I’m going to go grab some lunch with some people on my floor! Talk to you later! (Maybe I’ll even get to meet you in person later!?!?)

Reading the last message, Kurt swallowed nervously. Now that he was here, and meeting Blaine was a very plausible thing, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to do it.

Okay, of _course_ he wanted to meet Blaine. He just. He was afraid of the consequences. Aside from the built up image of what meeting Blaine in person would be like, he had to consider the very real possibility that Blaine might be really pissed when he found out the truth. Kurt didn’t even care all that much at this point if Blaine told the media, he just didn’t want to risk losing the friendship.

So he convinced himself to put off their meeting.

Orientation was a good excuse. He was busy meeting his new classmates and being bombarded with critical information for the semester. Plus, unbeknownst to Blaine, he was dealing with the journalists following him around and classmates prying into his private life. He knew the excitement of having a ‘celebrity’ in their midst would wear off after a few weeks, and he’d be able to really start the process of making friends, but in the meantime, it was incredibly draining to be on his absolute best behavior at all times, while also trying to soak up his new environment.

He and his roommate, Mike Chang, used their first day off as an opportunity to enter the lottery for Wicked, and managed to snag two tickets. Kurt swallowed back the temptation to use his celebrity to get a backstage tour.

* * *

When the semester started up, Kurt really _was_ too busy to meet up with Blaine. By the sounds of it, Blaine was too busy as well. Only a few days in and Blaine was already auditioning for an a cappella group, starting a superhero club, and contemplating the merits of Debate Team.

* * *

A few weeks into the semester, and Kurt was beginning to feel incredibly guilty about not having even made plans to meet up with Blaine yet. Blaine had asked about it once or twice since orientation, but Kurt had just said he was too busy and moved on.

* * *

A month in, Kurt was still frozen in fear about the possibility of Blaine being upset when he found out, so he finally broke down and called Mercedes about the issue. ...Only she didn’t answer.

He flopped face first onto his bed. He needed to talk to _someone_ about Blaine, and Mercedes was the only one who knew the whole story. Just as he was contemplating telling Mike the whole story when he got back from his class, Kurt’s phone rang.

Sighing, he glanced at his phone. Huh. Finn never called him.

“Hello?” he answered, curiosity coloring his voice. “I thought you were heading out of the country on your super secret backpacking trip?”

Finn snorted. “How long do you think it’s going to stay a secret when I’m travelling with multiple Secret Service members and Puck?”

“Good point.” Kurt rolled onto his back. “So why’d you call?”

“Can’t I just call my little brother for no reason?”

Kurt raised an eyebrow. “Of course you can. But you don’t have a little brother.”

Finn laughed. “Well, shouldn’t my older brother have called me to wish me luck on my grand adventure?”

“I’ve been busy figuring out this whole school in the public eye deal!” Kurt protested. He sighed, debating for a moment if he should see what Finn had for advice. While he wasn’t all that good at school, or romantic relationships, he did usually have an excellent grasp on understanding people. “Actually, I could use your advice on something.”

“My day has finally come!” Finn crowed.

“Hold your horses. First, I need you to promise me that everything I tell you stays between us. You can’t tell Dad. You can’t tell your mom. No spilling it to any of the Secret Service agents either.”

“Ooo,” Finn lowered his voice. “This must be good. Do you have a boyfriend?”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone and then I’ll tell you.”

Finn promised, and Kurt told Finn the CliffsNotes version of The Blaine Saga. Meeting on tumblr, becoming good friends, Blaine’s at times exuberant appreciation of Kurt Hummel, and the fact that they were both in NYC, but hadn’t met in person yet.

“And now,” Kurt wrapped up his story, “I’ve been avoiding his questions about meeting up for over a month, and he’s _definitely_ going to hate me.”

There was a long silence, during which Kurt had to check his phone to make sure Finn was still on the line.

“If he’s as wonderful as you seem to think he is,” Finn finally said, “he won’t hate you. He might be a little upset and hurt, but I think he’ll understand why you couldn’t tell him. He’ll probably also get why you were scared to tell him after moving to New York.”

“What if he doesn't understand, though?”

“Then he’s probably not worth your concern. If he really cares about you, he’ll listen. And if he has even the tiniest bit of common sense, then he should understand that you didn’t deceive him to be malicious, you did it because you had to.”

Kurt mulled it over for a few minutes before speaking. “Thank you. That- I needed to hear that.”

“Anytime, just… tell him soon, okay? There’s no point dragging it out any longer than you have to.”

* * *

Kurt didn’t immediately make plans to meet up with Blaine. He should have, but he didn’t. After getting off the phone with Finn, he had contemplated various meeting places, but internet safety guidelines dictated they meet in a public space, while Kurt’s desire to not have his meeting with Blaine be all over the tabloids, dictated they meet in a private one.

Unable to find a compromise, Kurt had put it off again.

* * *

A few weeks later, in mid-October, Kurt finished his midterm paper, emailing it to his professor minutes before the midnight deadline, and then opened tumblr. He'd planned on reblogging a few fashion posts before calling it a night, but was instead surprised to see three new messages that Blaine had sent over an hour ago.

BowtiesandCoffee: Alright, what's the deal? We're halfway through the semester and we _still_ haven't met. Do you not want to meet me? Have you been catfishing me? What's the deal? I can't handle not knowing

BowtiesandCoffee: I mean... if you just don't want to meet me, I can live with that. I just need to know.

BowtiesandCoffee: You were so excited before though. You were so up for meeting! But ever since you got here, you've been avoiding it, and I don't know why. Did I do something wrong?

Kurt worried his bottom lip between his teeth for a moment before throwing caution to the wind. He had no real plans for the next day, aside from class, and he was done procrastinating his meeting with Blaine. It was now or never.

BornThisWay: Sorry for the delayed response - was writing a paper. Are you still up? I… we could skype right now? I kind of have some things to explain and apologize for

BornThisWay: I didn’t mean to wait this long before meeting you. It just sort of… happened. I can’t properly explain it over tumblr

Kurt waited, tapping his fingers on his desk as he tried to calmly scroll through his dash, noting that Blaine hadn’t reblogged anything in over an hour.

He continued scrolling through his dash for fifteen minutes before giving up. Blaine was probably asleep, and he should do the same.

BornThisWay: I’m going to bed now, but please text me or something in the morning. I have class until noon but I want to work this out

* * *

Kurt checked tumblr when he woke up, but didn’t find any messages from Blaine. He fell back onto his pillows with a defeated sigh. After a night of tossing and turning, he’d hoped Blaine would respond, but he hadn’t yet.

His phone alarm blared, making him jump. He scrambled to turn it off, glancing over at Mike to make sure he hadn’t woken up.

Getting out of bed, Kurt tried to focus on his day. When Blaine was ready, he would text Kurt. Besides, maybe he was still asleep and hadn’t seen Kurt’s messages yet.

* * *

When Kurt checked his phone after his first class, and found no new texts from Blaine, he began to wonder if he should text Blaine. Or call him. It was his own fault for not just telling Blaine the truth and meeting up with him. Now, Blaine probably thought Kurt was either a liar, or super inconsiderate. Probably both.

Settling into the theater for his next class, Kurt vowed to call Blaine if he still hadn’t heard from him when class got out at noon.

* * *

Stomach twisting, Kurt pulled out his phone the moment his professor dismissed them. The knot in his stomach loosened as he saw a few unread messages from Blaine that were sent over an hour earlier.

Blaine: Meet me at Jitter Bug when you get out of class

Blaine: I’ll be the one in the polka dot bowtie, sitting at a table in the back, looking like he’s going to pass out

Kurt sped up, heading for the shortcut to Jitter Bug, the NYADA campus’s version of Starbucks.

Blaine: I just realized that your class gets out at noon, not 11. I’m definitely going to pass out

Blaine: Please don’t stand me up.

Kurt rushed to text Blaine back as he dodged a few students on his way to the coffee shop, a few plain clothes Secret Service agents following behind him.

Kurt: Be there in a minute!

Kurt: Please don’t freak out on me

Speeding up, Kurt rounded the last corner and entered Jitter Bug, his heart pounding. He should probably hold off on getting a coffee until he had his heart rate under control.

His eyes flitted around the shop, before landing on - yup, that was definitely Blaine in a pink polka dot bowtie - Blaine, who was typing away on his phone.

Kurt’s phone buzzed with a new text message as Blaine set his phone down on the table and glanced nervously at the door, eyes landing on Kurt and widening slightly.

Taking a deep breath, Kurt walked to the back of the shop, stopping at Blaine’s table. “Is this seat taken?” The words came out smoothly, but his voice was an octave higher than usual.

“Sure-”

Kurt grinned, stomach fluttering as he pulled out the chair.

“Actually- I’m- the seat’s taken. I’m waiting for a- a friend.”

“About that…” Kurt pulled out the chair and sat down. “I’m pretty sure I’m the friend you’re waiting for.”

Blaine opened and closed his mouth wordlessly for a moment, pieces of the puzzle seeming to come together in his mind. After a moment, he let out a laugh, closing his eyes briefly and shaking his head. “Well, that certainly explains some things.” His eyes widened, mouth falling open as he turned an impressive shade of red. “You let me gush to you about you!” He buried his face in his hands. “Oh my god.”

“It was very flattering.”

“I’m so embarrassed.” Blaine’s voice was muffled by his hands.

“And _I’m_ really sorry I couldn’t tell you about this when we first started talking.” Kurt swallowed nervously. He took a breath. “Or when I got to New York. I was scared about how you would take the news. That’s why I was avoiding meeting up with you.”

Blaine peeked at him through his fingers. “I can’t believe you’re Kurt _Hummel_ and I had no idea this whole time. You share a birthday with him! And a first name! And you both go to NYADA. _How_ did I not put this together?”

“Blaine.” Kurt reached out and rubbed a hand up and down his arm comfortingly. “Even if you had figured it out, I would have had to deny it.”

Relaxing a little, Blaine pulled his hands away from his face. He exhaled loudly. “Okay. Okay, tell me about how this all happened, and then we’ll get this day back on track.” He smiled nervously at Kurt, causing a swarm of butterflies to erupt in his stomach. “I was hoping we could try to lotto a show later.”

* * *

Walking to the subway after leaving Blaine’s dorm late that night, Kurt couldn’t help but skip down the sidewalk for a few seconds. The day had gone _so_ well.

After explaining the whole tumblr adventure, assuring Blaine that he’d _wanted_ to tell him, and then apologizing profusely for being scared to tell him once they got to New York, they’d gone to Kurt’s place so he could drop off his things. While there, Blaine got to meet Mike, and then insisted on poking around Kurt’s dorm for a few minutes, cooing at the picture on Kurt’s desk of him, his mom, and his dad, from when he was 8.

They’d unsuccessfully attempted to win the lotto for Kinky Boots, which had been followed by an awkward moment when a few people had recognized him and asked for a picture. But Blaine, who hadn’t seemed to mind, brushed it off with a joke.

Instead of seeing a show, they’d wound up taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and wandered Central Park until the sun had set. Blaine had taken him to dinner at the NYU dining hall. Not exactly the most high quality cuisine, but it was definitely easier to hide in a crowd of students and enjoy a meal together, than it would have been to go unrecognized at a restaurant near Central Park.

Following dinner, Kurt had gotten to see Blaine’s dorm, and met his roommate, Elliott. Elliott hadn’t even batted an eyelash when Blaine had introduced him, so either he was incredibly chill, or he hadn’t recognized Kurt at all. Either way, Kurt was quite pleased. He wanted to be able to relax and watch a movie with Blaine, not be on edge all night because of Elliott.

At the end of the evening, there had been a moment when Kurt had thought that Blaine might kiss him, but a door had slammed down the hall and the moment had passed. They hugged goodbye, and Kurt still left happier about his life than he had been in a long time.

His phone buzzed as he reached the station, Secret Service trailing behind him.

Blaine: I guess I was right, Kurt Hummel is your namesake

Kurt laughed, pausing to go through the turnstile before texting Blaine back.

Kurt: Yes, you were

Blaine: What’re the rules about this?

Kurt: About what?

Kurt glanced at the tracks while he waited for Blaine’s reply.

Blaine: About being friends with you. Am I allowed to mention it to people? Like can I tell my parents?

Kurt: Oh! Yeah. You can tell people, just try not to spill everything to the press

Blaine: I would never!

Kurt bit his knuckle nervously before sending the next text.

Kurt: Can we hangout this weekend?

Blaine: Absolutely

* * *

Kurt’s phone rang as he was checking his hair one last time. Even if it wasn’t a date, Kurt wanted to look his best. Meeting Blaine in person had done nothing to lessen his crush.

“Hello?”

“Kurt! Hi!”

“You’re not calling to cancel, are you?” Kurt asked. “You’re due over here in a few minutes.”

“Actually, I’m here. I just can’t get into the building without a NYADA ID or a NYADA student. Security here is way tougher than NYU.”

Kurt laughed, heading into the hallway. “That’s probably because I’m here, Blaine.”

“Oh. Right. Duh.”

Kurt rolled his eyes fondly. “I’ll be down in a moment.”

* * *

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, Kurt and Blaine were holed up in Kurt’s room for a movie night. They’d ordered pizza and queued up a few classics.

Mike was out for the night with his girlfriend Tina, so they were taking advantage of his absence and having some one on one time without having to worry about people watching them. Or Secret Service members babysitting them.

Part way through the first movie, Blaine sighed loudly. “I never thought I’d say this, but I kind of miss Ohio.”

Kurt jokingly put a hand to Blaine’s forehead. “Are you feeling okay? No one misses Ohio,” he teased.

Blaine snorted, lightly slapping Kurt’s hand away. “It’s not Ohio so much as it’s my family that I miss,” Blaine admitted. “Although I do miss being able to see stars at night.”

“I miss my family, too,” Kurt sighed. “I knew I would, but I didn’t realize how much I would miss Finn especially. With my dad or Carole, I can pick up a phone and expect to hear back same day, but Finn’s having too much fun in Europe to get back to me often.” He paused. “I miss the stars, too. At home, one of the bedrooms upstairs has the perfect roof for stargazing. You can’t see as many as you can from Lima, but it’s such a peaceful little spot.”

“You go stargazing on the White House roof?” Blaine asked, staring at him incredulously.

“Maybe,” Kurt smirked. “You should come try it sometime.” He hesitated before continuing. “I was actually thinking… you said your parents were spending Christmas in LA with Copper, right? And then going on their respective business trips? And you weren’t sure what you were going to do?”

“Yes?” Blaine raised an eyebrow, staring at him quizzically.

“Would you want to come to the White House for Christmas? You could see the giant Christmas tree, and there are always a bunch of parties and stuff. It could be fun? New Years Eve, a lot of politicians kids usually come over and we have our own little party with karaoke, and take advantage of the bowling alley and-”

“I’m in,” Blaine interrupted.

“Really?”

“Christmas and New Years at the White House? With you? Hell yes.”

Kurt couldn’t help but grin. “Perfect. We might have to devise a way to get you in under the radar, but that should be a piece of cake.”

They smiled at each other and fell into companionable silence as they returned their attention to the movie.

“So,” Blaine said, as the credits rolled on The Breakfast Club a while later, “I’ve been wondering, did you have Facebook before your dad ran for President, or have you always lacked social media accounts?”

Kurt settled back against the wall. “I was 13 when he first ran, so I was a bit young for any social media, but I wasn’t particularly interested in getting a facebook back then.”

“Why not?”

Kurt sighed. He’d hoped to avoid this topic - he didn’t relish the idea of Blaine pitying him. “Everyone at school either bullied me or ignored me, so I didn’t really have friends back then. I didn’t really want to have a facebook page just so people could attack me there, too.”

Blaine laid his head on Kurt’s shoulder. “Bullies suck.”

Kurt laughed. “They do. But hey, now I bet they’re all mad that they didn’t befriend me when they had the chance.”

“They’re all idiots.” Blaine paused. “Bullies are why I ended up at Dalton, actually.”

“My dad’s going to be so upset that he could’ve just sent me to a private school in Ohio instead of becoming President to facilitate a transfer.”

Blaine chuckled as Kurt got up to put the next DVD in. “Well, we both ended up in New York, so we must have done something right.”

Kurt sat back down and Blaine immediately cuddled close to him. “What’re we watching next?” Blaine asked.

“ _When_ _Harry Met Sally_.”

* * *

Kurt returned to the White House for Thanksgiving, and was immediately struck by how _odd_ it was to be living there.  After calling it home for five years, he’d gotten used to it. Sure, every once in a while he’d be hit by the fact that he got to call such an important building home, but being away at college in a tiny dorm room for months, had given him an even greater appreciation for it.

Maybe the weirdest aspect of living in The White House was how much history the building held. How Kurt’s very presence in this house - his living in the West Bedroom, him being a member of the household - was going to be part of the important history of the building. There would be documentation of his decoration decisions and the fact that he had turned the ‘Cosmetology Room’ into his sewing studio.

Someone would document what 14 year old Kurt had found cool, and after he was long gone, people would make judgments about his decisions. It was a very weird feeling.

Kurt was distracted from his musings by heavy footsteps quickly climbing the stairs.

He darted into the hallway, eyes landing on his dad, who’d been at work when Kurt had arrived earlier. “Dad!” He flung his arms around him.

“Hey, kiddo.” Burt pulled him close. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come get you. My negotiations with-”

“It’s fine,” Kurt assured him, pulling back. “It gave me a chance to finish some schoolwork on the plane. Now, I can fully enjoy the next few days.”

“Dinner’s in a few, so get ready for me to interrogate you about school. I’m going to finally find out what you haven’t been telling me on the phone.”

Kurt smiled wryly. The ‘thing’ he hadn’t told Burt about was Blaine. He’d carefully avoided mentioning him by name, because he knew Burt would start prying and he really hadn’t wanted to answer questions about Blaine in front of Mike.

* * *

“So, how’s school?” Carole asked at dinner that evening. “Burt tells me there’s some big secret we’re going to try to get out of you?”

Kurt glared at his dad. He dad winced.

“I didn’t say it was a big secret!” Burt protested. “I’m just betting that there’re some important things you haven’t shared.”

Kurt pondered his next words carefully - he’d been running them through his head for a few weeks now, but you could never be too careful. “I’ve actually been meaning to ask if I could invite someone over for Christmas and New Years?”

Burt raised an eyebrow, eyes dancing gleefully. “A male somebody?”

Rolling his eyes, Kurt stabbed his pasta with a fork. “Yes, actually. Before you get excited though, we’re not dating.”

“But you’re bringing him home for the holidays,” Burt stated, grin on his face a little embarrassing at this point.

Kurt sighed. He’d been expecting this. “Yes. But under no circumstances are you allowed to refer to him as my boyfriend, Dad,” Kurt threatened, pointing his fork at him. “We’re just friends.”

“Ah yes, I remember inviting my platonic friends over for the holidays so they could meet the family,” Burt sighed sarcastically.

“We’re _best_ friends,” Kurt amended. “Maybe on the verge of being more than that,” he muttered, just loud enough for his Dad and Carole to hear. If the amount of flirting going on between him and Blaine was any indication, they probably should’ve started dating a month ago.

* * *

Sneaking Blaine in under the media’s nose was barely a problem. Between all the extra activity in the White House for events, and multiple school tours going on, Blaine was able to slip in under the guise of working there. No one gave him a second glance.

“What room do I get to sleep in?” Blaine asked, bouncing up the stairs excitedly. “I looked into the history of all the rooms online, and I had _no_ idea that so many people have lived here over the years. I mean, I obviously knew that the Presidential kids lived here, but there have been so many people beyond that!”

Kurt laughed, exiting the stairwell. “I lobbied for you to get the East Bedroom, because it’s right next to mine, but Carole pointed out that Finn left it a complete mess, so instead you get the Queen’s Bedroom! It comes complete with a fireplace, bathroom, and your very own sitting room.”

“I’ll have to invite some dignitaries over, so I can make proper use of the sitting room.” Kurt led him into the room and Blaine gasped, grabbing Kurt’s hands and pulling Kurt onto the bed with him. I can’t believe I’m in a room that Winston Churchill stayed in. Can I see the Lincoln Bedroom next? I have _always_ wanted to see the Lincoln Bedroom.”

“Three years of friendship and it turns out you just wanted to see the Lincoln Bedroom,” Kurt teased.

“Ah yes,” Blaine agreed. “I’ve known from day one that BornThisWay was secretly Kurt Hummel.”

* * *

“I feel like I’m in _National Treasure 3_ ,” Blaine whispered in Kurt’s ear the next night, as they attended a dinner with a few Democratic party leaders. “Want to see my Nicolas Cage impression?”

“How about you show me later?” Kurt lifted his glass to his lips to hide his grin. “Until then, you can explain to me why this makes you feel like you’re in _National Treasure_.”

“Well, obviously I’m here to steal precious White House antiques that hold keys to historic artifacts that were hidden and secret treasure.”

* * *

On Christmas Eve, Burt hosted another party. After dinner, instead of hanging around with the politicians, Kurt, Blaine, and the other young people slipped upstairs to the Yellow Oval Room to hold their own celebration under the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree.

“Kurt!” Out of nowhere, Kurt found himself being hugged by Chandler. “I tried to say hi to you at dinner, but you were all the way across the room,” he said, pulling back.

Kurt smiled. “It’s good to see you Chandler. You should meet my friend, Blaine.” Kurt turned towards Blaine just in time to see him plaster a smile over the frown that had just been on his face. “Chandler, this is Blaine. Blaine, this is my friend, Chandler.”

Blaine stuck out his hand a little stiffly, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“I was actually going to introduce Blaine to a few more people, but we should catch up later!”

Chandler nodded in agreement, and Kurt led Blaine towards the food the staff had laid out for them.

“So, that’s Chandler.”

Kurt raised an eyebrow. Blaine was being a little ...odd. “Yeah.”

“He seems very… exuberant.”

Kurt laughed a little awkwardly. “He’s generally like that.” He pointed across the room to where Chandler was now excitedly hugging someone else. “See? He’s his own Energizer Bunny.”

Blaine glanced over, his shoulders relaxing a little. “Oh, wow, I was a little afraid it was just a you thing.”

Before Kurt could press Blaine on what exactly he meant by that, he was being interrupted again.

He introduced Blaine to a few people, leaving him with a cup of eggnog and Matt Rutherford, son of Vice President Rutherford, while he finished his rounds. He might not have been elected to office, but he did know the rules of being a good host.

He took a sip of his own eggnog and promptly winced. Following tradition, someone had already spiked it.

A half hour or so later, he had just wrapped up a conversation with Sugar Motta when he spotted Blaine making a beeline for him.

“Hey!” he greeted Blaine cheerfully. “Did I leave you with Matt for too long?”

“Nope!” Blaine popped the ‘p’ before grinning. “I saw that,” Blaine pointed at some mistletoe near the door, causing Kurt’s stomach to flip nervously, “and I was wondering…” he threaded his fingers through Kurt’s, smiling coyly, “if you’d be interested in making good use of it with me. It looks so sad and neglected.”

Kurt sucked in a breath. “How much eggnog have you had?” As much as he wanted to kiss Blaine, he’d rather not do it if Blaine was going to regret it in the morning.

“Just the one cup,” Blaine pouted. “If you don’t want to, you don’t _have_ to go over there with me.”

“Oh, I want.” Kurt started tugging him towards the door to the living room. “But, I think we could use a more private venue.”

Blaine sped up. “Wait, really?”

Kurt grinned. “I’d rather not have our first kiss be in front of fifty other people.”

“I have to admit something,” Blaine said as they reached the living room, ducking around a corner so they were out of sight.

“Yes?”

“The mistletoe isn’t why I want to kiss you.”

Kurt rolled his eyes, amused. “I’d kind of worked that out for myself.” He stepped closer, placing a hand on Blaine’s waist. “Between the invitation, the weird behavior when Chandler showed up, and how things have been going since we met in person… it wasn’t the biggest mental leap.”

“Hey Kurt? I’m- oh!” Kurt turned to see Chandler, standing in the doorway, eyes wide. “I was just-” Kurt stepped back from Blaine, hand falling to his side.

“Yeah?” Kurt asked, eyebrow raised. He glanced at Blaine, reaching a hand out to thread their fingers together. He didn’t want Blaine to get any ideas about running off. Plus, he wanted to hold Blaine’s hand.

“My mom and I are heading out. I just wanted to say goodbye.”

“Oh. Right.” Kurt gave Blaine’s hand a quick squeeze, before dropping his hand and stepping forward. He pulled Chandler in for a brief hug. “I’ll see you this summer, okay?”

“Yeah,” Chandler nodded fervently. His eyes slid over to Blaine. “I imagine I’ll be seeing you then, too. Merry Christmas!”

Chandler exited the room and Kurt returned to Blaine, biting his lip nervously. “Where were we?”

“Well,” Blaine stepped forward, grabbing both of Kurt’s hands in his own, “I believe that I had just admitted to wanting _more_ and you were either about to do the same, or laugh in my face.”

“When have I ever laughed in your face?” Kurt asked, edging closer to Blaine.

“Many times. In fact, before the party started you-”

“Blaine?” Kurt interrupted, taking a tiny step towards him and placing a hand on his waist.

“Yeah?”

“I believe we were in the middle of something.”

Blaine leaned forward, his mouth mere inches from Kurt’s. “Were we?”

Kurt snorted. “Are you going to kiss me or what?” he whispered.

“Hmmm,” Blaine smirked a little, leaning closer as Kurt’s eyes flickered closed. “I’m going to kiss you now,” Blaine whispered, before sealing their lips together.

After several long, glorious minutes of kissing, they pulled away. Kurt bit his lip, watching in complete awe as Blaine, blushing, covered a wide grin with his fist, eyes flicking up from the floor to meet Kurt’s.

Kurt could only manage to grin back at him for a moment, before pulling him close once more. Kissing Blaine was even better than he’d imagined it would be.

Eventually, of course, they were interrupted by some partygoers, who were looking for a little privacy of their own, and were forced to rejoin the party.

It wasn’t so bad, though. Now, Kurt had an excuse to keep Blaine close to him, fingers laced together.

* * *

The whole family slept in on Christmas. Christmas was a day reserved just for them - unless disaster struck. While most Presidents travelled somewhere else for Christmas, Burt liked to stay at the White House. He claimed a stay-cation was the best kind of vacation.

Kurt thought he was just too used to not having the money for an actual vacation to go anywhere now that he did.

Regardless, Kurt enjoyed their laid back holiday. It gave them time together as a family, without adding in paparazzi or travel.

When they finished exchanging and opening presents, Kurt stood up from the couch, where he’d been sitting with his feet in Blaine’s lap, holding a hand out to help Blaine up. “Come on, I want to show you the music room.”

Blaine stood up, lacing their fingers together as Kurt led him out the door.

“Hey, Bud?” Burt called out.

“Yeah?” Kurt turned around to see his dad glancing curiously at their clasped hands before returning his attention to Kurt’s face.

“Dinner should be ready in an hour.”

“Okay.” Kurt nodded, before turning back to the door, hoping that his dad wasn’t going to mention the hand holding.

“And make sure the door stays open up there.”

Kurt blushed. No such luck apparently.

“Sure, Dad,” he squeaked, before finally making it out of the room with Blaine in tow.

They headed up the stairs and into the music room in silence, Kurt too embarrassed by how much of a stereotypical parent his dad was being to say anything.

Blaine made a beeline for the piano bench, sliding over for Kurt to join him.

“Sorry about my dad,” Kurt sighed.

To his surprise, Blaine let out a little laugh. “I thought it was sweet.” He hesitated, hitting a few keys. “Is he going to grill me about this later?”

“Oh, god,” Kurt groaned. “I hope not. Christmas dinner is supposed to be a time where we talk about how the ham came out and get interrupted numerous times by family members calling to check in.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound too bad. Although,” Blaine leaned towards him a little, eyes glittering mischievously, “after he grills me, I wouldn’t be so freaked out about the idea of kissing you in front of him.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that right now,” Kurt whispered, eyes flicking to Blaine’s lips.

“That’s a very good point. Whatever shall I do about that?”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Just shut up and kiss me.”

* * *

Later that evening, after dinner had been put away, dessert had been eaten, and everyone had gone to bed, Kurt wandered into the kitchen for a glass of water.

“What’re you doing up?”

Kurt jumped, hand flying to his chest as he saw his dad sitting at the table with his laptop. “What’re you doing sitting in the dark?” Kurt asked, flicking on the light.

“I asked you first.” Burt smiled at him. “I came in here to answer some emails, and forgot to turn on the light.” He waited a moment for Kurt’s response before continuing. “Is Blaine going to show up in a minute and claim it’s just a coincidence?”

Kurt set an empty glass down on the counter, but didn’t turn around to look at his dad. “If he does show up, it really will be a coincidence. I’m just here for some water.”

“Come sit,” Burt closed his laptop as Kurt filled up his glass. “I have some questions about you and Blaine.”

Kurt took a deep breath before turning around. He and Blaine had confirmed that they were both serious about this, but they hadn’t discussed what exactly they’d tell Kurt’s dad about how they met if he asked. When Kurt had first invited Blaine for Christmas, they’d come up with a story about meeting at a NYADA performance, when they’d randomly been seated next to each other, but Kurt wasn’t sure he wanted to continue with that lie now that things had progressed. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure he was ready to admit that he’d met Blaine online and that he’d had a tumblr in high school.

Calmly, he pulled out a chair and sat down across from his dad. “Alright, what do you want to know?”

Burt rolled his eyes. “No need to act like you’re facin’ the inquisition. I’m just curious about the fact that, when you invited Blaine, you insisted he was just a friend. When he showed up, I thought you might actually be dating, because you two seem so touchy-feely, but I decided to believe what you’d told me before. Now I’m not too sure about that, though.” Kurt took a long drink from his glass to buy himself some time before delving into the conversation. “Wanna fill me in here?”

“We got together last night. We _were_ just friends when he got here. I wasn’t lying about that.”

“Last night?” Burt prompted.

“Yeah, um. At the party. There was mistletoe and-” Kurt could feel himself turning red, “yeah. We’re dating now.”

“Well, good.” Kurt blinked. Good? He’d kind of expected his dad to be more overbearing about his first boyfriend. “Blaine seems like a good kid, and I can tell he really cares about you. I was a little worried when you brought him here that he was just using you, but that seems to have been unnecessary. I double checked with the Secret Service, just in case, and they insisted he wasn’t working for them.”

Kurt stared at his dad for a moment, brow furrowed, before it clicked. “Dad!” he laughed. “Please tell me you did not watch _First Daughter._ ”

“Actually, it was _Roman Holiday_.”

“Sure, Dad. We can pretend that was the plot of _Roman Holiday_ , if it makes you feel better.”

Burt chuckled. “I forget that you watch older movies.”

“Any movie with Audrey Hepburn in it, is a movie I’ll watch.” Kurt finished drinking his water. “Did you have Secret Service find out if he was secretly a journalist, trying to do a story on me?”

“Everyone has a blog these days. There’s no way they’d get a satisfactory answer to that.”

Kurt stood up with a laugh, moving to place his glass in the dishwasher. Blaine did have a blog. But, seeing as how Kurt himself was keeping tabs on it, he was fairly certain Blaine wasn’t about to spill the beans on Kurt. “Okay, Dad. It’s time for me to go to bed.”

“Goodnight, Bud.”

* * *

**New Years Eve**

Mercedes: Do I get to meet Blaine at the party tonight? Can I come over early?

Kurt laughed, reading the text as Blaine walked back into the room.

Kurt: You do get to meet him! But my dad said no early birds.

“Who’s that?” Blaine asked, leaning down to kiss Kurt softly. “Should I be jealous?” Kurt put his phone down on the end table next him.

“Just Mercedes.”

“Ah.” In a rather bold move, Blaine moved to straddle Kurt, sending his heart fluttering as Blaine rested his weight on Kurt’s thighs. “So, there’s no need for me to lure you back to me?” Blaine’s voice was low and gravelly.

Kurt’s mouth dropped open as his blood rushed south and his brain struggled to catch up. “I-” he stuttered, unable to form a sentence.

Blaine grinned at him, looking a bit too pleased with himself. “Well, in that case, I guess I should probably just-” he moved as if to slide off Kurt’s lap.

“No!” Kurt’s right hand landed on Blaine’s left leg, holding him in place. “I like you right where you are.”

Blaine raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“Yes.” Kurt leaned forward, trying to kiss Blaine, only to have him pull back, just out of reach. “ _Blaine_ ,” Kurt huffed out a laugh.

Blaine smirked, before leaning down to whisper in Kurt’s ear, “Kurt?”

Leaning his head back against the couch, Kurt groaned. “Are you trying to kill me?”

Letting out a laugh, Blaine nuzzled Kurt’s neck. “No.” Blaine lifted his head up and bit his lip. “How much time do you think we have before your dad checks on us again?”

“Mmm, I’m not sure. I vote we make out until he shows up.”

“And have him set the Army after me?” Blaine gasped in mock horror.

Kurt rolled his eyes affectionately. “Just the Secret Service.”

“Hmm,” Blaine pretended to mull it over. “Worth it.”

And with that, he finally, _finally_  leaned forward, pushing Kurt’s head back against the couch with the force of his kiss.


	4. Epilogue

Yesterday, Kurt Hummel, son of past President Burt Hummel, announced his engagement to his long time boyfriend, Blaine Anderson of Ohio, via a tweet to a  [ youtube link ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lGWLO7lIwQ) of the proposal.

In the video, Anderson sings  _ All You Need Is Love _ while leading Kurt through halls filled with their friends, including former President Hummel himself who was dressed casually in jeans and a plaid shirt.

The proposal took place at the White House, and as former President Hummel’s term ended two years ago, Anderson must have pulled some serious strings to secure the venue.

Of particular interest though, is the speech Anderson proposed with. While sources close to the White House had suggested that Kurt and Blaine met at an event their first year of college, Anderson’s speech indicates otherwise. According to his speech, the pair met long before college. 

It’s unclear when the two will wed, but after 5 years of dating, it is unsurprising to see them take this step.

We will update this article with further details as information becomes available to us.

 


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